There is something to be said about providers who make you feel as if you're their primary concern - providers who work diligently to make sure the care you receive is of the utmost quality and excellence. Erie Family Health Center never runs short of these types of providers and Lynnette Suarez is the perfect example of just how much staff cares for each person that steps through Erie's doors.

Lynnette is a behavioral health therapist for the Lending Hands for Life Program at Erie Humboldt Park Health Center. Lending Hands for Life is Erie's HIV/AIDS program, which works to provide patients living with HIV/AIDS services that enable them to live a healthy and active life.  Working with a team that strives to better the lives of those they serve is what Lynnette regards as the most rewarding part of her career. "I have the privilege of working with a  tremendous team of talented people who all pull together to make sure that the patients are taken care of in the best, most comprehensive way possible," says Lynnette. "We inspire each other to do more every day."

Since joining the Erie family, Lynnette has utilized different techniques and skills to help her patients cope with their diagnosis, as well as other traumatic events in their lives. Recently Lynnette introduced a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) into her therapy with her patients. This technique allows clients to reanalyze and replace traumatic memories with a new and more adaptive perception, which ultimately helps to change the way the memories impact her patients. "EMDR allows the person to come to a new conclusion about the trauma and about them so they can place the blame where it really belongs (not on themselves). This is inclusive of a diagnosis of HIV which can be considered a trauma in and of itself," says Lynnette.

To read more about Lynnette's work at Erie, click here.